Lady Macbeth

• "...look like the innocent flower, / But be the serpent under't" (1,5)


  - "look" - imperative to hihlight LM's commanding nature as she urges M to decieve everyone and plan the murder of the king --> this is the antithesis of stereotypical feminine behaviour and emphasises LM's unusual character.

  
  

  - "innocent flower" - these words have connotations of innocence and femininity -> this is therefore a direct contrast to the character of LM and demonstrated how Shakespeare has used her gender to hide her true nature.

  
  

  - The enjambment and the turning point of the word 'but' highlights her deliberate slyness and the contrast between the (her) outward appearance and the inner reality.

  
  

  (CONTEXT)

  - whole phrase, specifically 'serpent' - this imagery reminds the church-goinf Jacobean audience of the serpent in the Garden of Eden as LM's language links her to the weak woman (Eve) who tempted Adam to disobey God.

  ^ Shakespeare presents LM as manipulative and sinful, deliberately playing on contemporary perceptions of women.
• "Come, you spirits... unsex me here,/And fill me from the crown to the toe top-full/Of direst cruelty!" (1,5 soliliquoy)


  -LM turns to the forces of evil and welcomes the dark spirits who will strip her of her femininity and allow her to commit murder.

  - the use of the imperative verb 'come' shows that shows that she deliberately turns to the forces of evil and embraces their power.

  - the repetition of 'come' makes it sound as if she is casting a spell, and therefore her language links w/ the witches.

  - whilst LM seems to be willing to act upon her ambition, her call upon the supernatural suggests that she is not cruel by nature. This therefore foreshadows her inability to cope w/ her guilt later on in the play.
• pluck'd my nipple.. dash'd the brains' (1,7)


  - LM says that she would kill her nursing baby rather than act in the cowardly way M is. Ambition has stripped her of all feminine qualities.

  - "dashed" violent verb - shows the violence and cruelty that LM believes she is capable of
• "A little water clears us of this deed. How easy it is then!" (LM, 2,2)


  - "little" - quantitive adjective --> implies that LM believed that it will be easy to hide the crime --> dramatic irony - the play is a tragedy so the audience knows it will not end will (M becoming tragic protagonist)

  - another interpretation could suggest LM believes that this physical cleansing will also cleanse them metaphorically of their sin/guilt.

  - "deed" - euphemism --> she doesn't name the crime as murder or regicide (killing of king) -- perhaps she is attempting to minimise the crime and make it seem less terrible in an attempt to reassure Macbeth
• "All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand. O, O, O!" (LM, 5,1)


  - Hyperbole (all - arabia) - indicates the hopelessness of her situation - the crime of regicide cannot be undone and the stain on her soul cannot be removed.

  - The suggestion is that even though there is no physical sign of the blood, the smell still remains implying that others will be able to detect what they have done

  - "sweeten" - verb - could be seen as LM trying to achieve innocence by reverting back to a feminine state.

  - "O, O, O!" -> fragmented speech - reflects lack of control of her own mind, in this scene she used PROSE, rather than blank verse she used in earlier acts, showing again the descent into madness -- repetition, tricolon, exclamation mark - emphasises the distress that LM is going through and her declining mental state.

  Semantic field of "perfumes" and "sweeten" have connotations of femininity which are at odds with LM's initial desire to be "unsex[ed]". Represents LM's return to regular, biological, feminine self after feeling the weight of guilt of her action
• Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck' (Macbeth to LM)


  - after becoming king, M begins to confide less and less in his wife, planning the murders of Banquo and Fleance on his own.

  - LM's power over her husband fades as the play progresses. She is now not a 'partner' but is a 'chuck'. This perhaps shows that he no longer values her as highly as he did.
• LM emasculates her husband and is worried that he is 'too full o'th' milk of human kindness'


  - attack of his identity

  - cows produce milk - calling him innocent (but perhaps also calling him amoral)

  - calling him too innocent

  - women produce milk - her attacking his masculinity
• When thou durst do it, then you were a man' - Lady Macbeth act 1 scene 7


  Is basically saying if you kill the king then ill see you as a Man. In a patriarchal society Men were only strong and a brave masculine if they do things that not many others would do. Can argue Macbeth only Kills the King to prove to his wife is is strong. Trying to goad MB into agreement of the plot by insulting his manliness.